Machine for cutting sheet material



Oct. 27, 1942. c. J. e'aoss MACHINE FOR CUTTING SHEET MATERIAL Filed July 29, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 27, 1942.

c. lsnoss MACHINE FOR CUTTING SHEET MATERIAL Filed July 29, 1940' 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 h ww R Patented Oct. 27, 1942 T OFFICE MACHINE FOR CUTTINGS-HEET MATERIAL Charles J. Gross, Melrose, Mass assigncr to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemingit ton, N. J a corporation ofNew Jersey Application July 29,1940, seriarNo. 348,077

5 Claims.

This invention relates to presses 'andisherein illustrated as embodied in a machine for cutting .heel lift blanks.

In preparing parts which go into shoes, it has long been customary to die out small parts such as heel lifts from leather scrap or other sheet material. It is an object .of the present invention to provide an improved machine which is especially adapted for use incutting blanks from the sheet material in a manner which is economical both of time and material.

To this end and as illustrated, thenmachine comprises a plurality of dies having upturned cutting edges and a work table surrounding the dies and mounted for yielding movement in a heightwise direction together with a presser member movable along the row of dies and arranged for reciprocation toward and away from the'dies to effect the cutting operation upon the material located upon the work table. Preferably, and as shown, means are provided for removably positioning dies on the frame of the machine so that dies of various sizes and shapes can be readily located therein. Means is also provided for removing blanks cut from the dies'and, as shown, includes a plurality of chutes separately connected to a hollow member positioned below the dies and arranged to conduct blanks formed away from the dies into separate containers.

" These and other features of the invention are illustrated in the following specification and ac companying drawings and are set forth in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a press embodying one form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a dieand means -of the bed and for movement toward and away from the bed to perform cutting operations upon material positioned upon dies on the bed. For further details of the construction and operation of the machine thus far described, reference may be had to UnitedStates Letters Patent No. 921,-

503, granted May 11,1909, upon application of Arthur Bates.

To adapt this machine to use in cutting heel lifts orjother blanks from sheet material, such as scrap leather, there are mounted upon the bed a plurality of dies [8 which may be of different sizes of -a range of sizes corresponding. to blanks desired to be cut. The dies shown, Figs. 2 and 3, are hollow heelliftdies comprising a vertically ex-- tending base portion l8 and a beveled portion which terminates in a heel-shaped cutting edge '22. Each of the dies is supported upon a dieplate 24 having an opening 25 somewhat greater in size than the opening bounded by the cutting edge 22. The die plates 24 are arranged to be spaced from the bed 12 bya support in the form of abase plate 26 which extends along the bed and is removably secured thereto by dowel pins:

'28 and til. The base plate is provided with a, central opening 32 upon opposite sides of which are'located upwardly facing abutments 33 and 34 and upon which the die plates 24 rest. One side of eachdie plate has a beveled portion 35 arranged to engage a beveled flange 36 extending along the abutment 34. The other side of the die plate is received in a recess 31 formed between the abutment t3 and an inturned flange 33 which has a beveled wall 39 arranged to be engaged by the side walls of the dies [8. To secure the dies in position on the base plate 26, I have provided for each die two dogs 40 pivotally mounted in the die plate 24 and having screw bolts 42 arranged to engage the side walls of the die. Each die It is placed with its breast edge portion in engagement with the. wall 39 of thegdie base 26 and the screw bolts 42 are adjusted forwardly of the machine to force the die against the wall. As this is done, the pressure exerted upon the wall reacts through the die and the dogs to force the die plate 24 in the opposite direction pressing the rearward edge of the die plate against the beveled flange 35, thus retaining the die plate 24 and the die IS in fixed positions with the die located over the opening 25 in the die plate. The construction just described facilitates the rapid interchange of dies of different shapes and sizes.

The bed i2 is hollow and adapted to receive the blanks cut by the dies [8 as the blanks fall through the openings 25 in the die plates and the opening 32 in the bed plate 26. In order to keep separate the blanks from the different dies, I have provided chutes 44 positioned in the bed for leading the blanks forced through the dies away to containers, such as bags (not shown). The chute at an end portion of the machine (Figs. 1

. and 3) is shown in detail, the other chutes 44 being similarly constructed and arranged. Each chute comprises a trough 46 secured by brackets 48 to the bed 12 and extending in an upwardly inclined direction through an opening 50 in the side of the bed, the upper end of the chute being located directly below one of the dies l8 in such a way that blanks forced through the die will fall directly into the chute and be conveyed away from the bed.

I have provided a combined work table and stripping device generally indicated by reference character 52 in Figs. 1 and 3. This device comprises two fiat members shown as boards 54 and 55 extending respectively along the front and rear portions of the machine and connected by a plurality of detachable stripper plates 58 bridging across the row of dies IS on the bed, each of the plates having an opening 60 in alinement with one of the dies. The table is resiliently mounted for movement heightwise of the dies upon springs 52, each of which surrounds a bolt 613 slidably positioned in one or the other of two brackets 65, 68 projecting forwardly and rearwardly, respectively, from the bed l2. The springs normally hold the surface of the table in or slightly above the plane of the cutting edges of the dies E8, the upward limit of movement of the table being determined by the adjustment of lock nuts 18 on the bolts 6d. The board 56 has therein an opening 12 for the reception of pieces of material too small to produce blanks by means of the dies l8, there being provided a chute 14 for carrying away such scrap as may fall through the opening 12.

In order to provide access to the dies 8 at such times as it is desirable to replace them, the plates 3 are removably secured to the boards 54 and 56. To this end, each plate 58 is provided with downturned ears 16 and 18 arranged, re-

speci-ively, to be held in fixed position relatively to the boards at and 56. Each of the ears can be positioned between a pair of spaced blocks secured to the boards. Two of these blocks are indicated by reference characters 80. Secured to the board 58 there is a ledge 82 upon which a laterally projectin portion 84 of the ear 1'8 may be positioned. The ear it is arranged to be locked in position between two blocks 8o by a plunger 86 slidably mounted in a bracket 88 carried upon the underside of the board 54, there being a spring 90 for forcing the plunger rearwardly of the machine to cause its end portion 92 to enter an opening 9 3 in the ear 76, thus to lock the plate 58 in position. The plunger 86 is provided with a handle 96 by which the plunger can be withdrawn to unlock the plate 58, after which it can be readily removed, thus providing access to the die it with which it is associated. The construction above described is advantageous in that the table presents a substantially smooth surface over which small pieces of sheet material can be moved into position over a die, thus great-l facilitating the dieing-out operation.

t is to be noted that, while the dies have been shown as heel-shaped dies, the invention contemplates making use of dies of other shapes, for example, such as will produce a portion only of a heel lift, several blanks of different shapes being required to produce a complete lift.

In order to prevent excessive wear of the striking face of the beam Hi, the spindle M, which carries the beam, is mounted at one corner of the bed near the end die of the row of dies l8, with the result that upon successive operations of the beam in different angular positions the areas of the beam contacted by the dies will be spaced outwardly along the beam, thus distributing the wear over different portions of its striking face.

In cutting blanks by the use of the machine above described, the operator usually stands in front of the work table 52 with a plurality of pieces of sheet material resting in front of him upon the flat portion 54. He then selects a piece of material of the proper size and moves it over the table into position over one of the dies i8, and then swings the beam over the die, depressing the handle I! to effect operation of the presser member to force material into the die to produce a blank. During the operation, the table yields under the pressure of the beam as the material is forced over the cutting edge of the die. As the beam moves away from the table, a stripper member 58 will remove the uncut portion of a piece of material, which then can be positioned on the same or another die if it still contains a sufficient amount of material to make a blank. If not, the operator throws it into the opening 12, where it is conducted away from the machine through the chute 14. As the dies become filled with blanks, the latter drop down through the openings in the die plates 24 and the base plate 26 into the hollow portion of the bed l2 and are conducted away from the bed through one or another of the chutes 44.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A die assembly comprising a base plate, abutments upon opposite sides thereof, flanges extending along each of the abutments, a die plate resting upon the abutments and having an opening therein adjacent to one of the flanges, a hollow die resting upon the die plate in alinement with the opening therein, and means carried by the die plate for forcing the die against one of the flanges and an edge of the die plate against the other of the flanges to secure the die plate and die in fixed position relatively to the base plate.

2. A die assembly comprising a base member, flanges on the base member upon opposite sides thereof, a die plate resting upon the base mem her, a die upon the die plate, and means carried by the die plate for forcing the die into close engagement with one of the flanges and an edge of the die plate into close engagement with the other of the flanges to lock the die and die plate in fixed position relatively to the base member.

3. A die assembly comprising a base plate having an opening therein, abutments located upon opposite sides of the opening, flanges extending along each of the abutments, a die plate resting upon the abutments and having an opening therein adjacent to one of the flanges, a hollow die resting upon the die plate in alinement with the opening therein, and means carried by the die plate for forcing the die against one of the flanges and an edge of the die plate against the other of the flanges to secure the die plate and die in fixed position relatively to the base plate.

4. A die assembly comprising a base plate having a central opening, flanges on the base plate upon opposite sides of the opening, a die plate resting upon the base plate and having an opening adjacent to one of the flanges, a die resting upon the die plate in alinement with the opening therein, and means carried by the die plate for forcing the die into close engagement with one of the flanges and an edge of the die plate into close engagement with the other of the flanges to lock the die and die plate in fixed position relatively to the base plate.

5. A die assembly comprising a base having an opening therein, upturned abutments extending along opposite sides of the opening, a die plate supported upon the abutments and having a beveled edge portion, said die plate also having an opening therein in alinement with the opening in the base, beveled flanges extending upwardly from each of the abutments, a hollow die having side walls surrounding the opening in the die plate and having beveled portions terminating in a cutting edge, a plurality of dogs pivotally mounted upon the die plate, means carried by the dogs for engaging the die to force a beveled portion thereof into engagement with one of the flanges and to force the beveled edge portion of the die plate into engagement with the other of the flanges thereby to secure the die and die plate 10 in fixed position.

CHARLES J. GROSS. 

